Four graduates of Waterloo Engineering took top honours in their categories this week at a prestigious awards gala for Ontario entrepreneurs.
Sponsored by professional services firm Ernst & Young and held in Toronto, the event recognized Waterloo alumni with successful businesses in fields ranging from video games to aluminum manufacturing.
Cited by judges at the 23rd annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year program for Ontario were:
- Technology - Dave Kroetsch (Comp ’02, Mech ’07) of Aeryon Labs Inc. of Waterloo, a leader in the design and production of small drones.
- Manufacturing – Bob Peacock (Mech ’84) of ALMAG Aluminum of Brampton, a manufacturer of aluminum extruded products for companies throughout North America.
- Media and Entertainment – James Schmalz (Mech ’92) and Michael Schmalz (Civil ’91) of Digital Extremes of London, a developer and publisher of video games for Xbox and PlayStation platforms.
From left, Jan Huissoon, chair of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, William Melek, director of mechatronics engineering, graduate Devon Galloway, CTO of Vidyard, graduate Dave Kroetsch, president of Aeryon Labs, Pearl Sullivan, dean of engineering, and graduate Kurtis McBride, CEO of Miovision Technologies Incorporated.
Winners in 11 categories were selected from 50 finalists, who had been whittled down from 165 nominees, based on criteria including financial performance, vision, leadership, personal integrity and entrepreneurial spirit.
The overall Ontario winner as 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year was Steven Hudson of Element Financial Corporation of Toronto, a fleet management and equipment finance firm that has grown its assets to $25 billion from just $20 million in 2011.
National winner announced next month
Hudson will go on to compete against regional winners from across Canada for a national award to be announced next month. The national winner will represent Canada next summer as entrepreneurs from more than 50 countries vie for a world title.
Also named as finalists for the Ontario awards were the following Waterloo Engineering alumni:
- Young and Emerging - Ray Cao (SD ’09) of Connections by Exact Inc. of Toronto, which uses excess space in e-commerce parcels to distribute targeted product samples and brand offers.
- Technology – Kurtis McBride (SD ’04, ’08) of Miovision Technologies Inc. of Kitchener, which helps professionals in 50 countries improve transportation through the use of data and infrastructure.
- Media and Entertainment - David Ross (Comp ’91) of Ross Video of Ottawa, which designs, manufactures and delivers technology and services to power live video productions.
For a feature story on Aeryon, see here. For a feature story on Miovision, see here.